This was my reaction, too. Maybe I've just been playing too much Mass Effect and Dragon Age these past few weeks, but the third person controls in JC2 feel weird and strange to me.

They start to feel more natural after a time. The control scheme, at least on the 360, does seem to be from the 'let's be all different and map things to buttons they've never been mapped to before' school of design. Mercenaries was similar as I recall. The controls on that game put me off the demo but I went back to it months later (thanks to GWJ ;)) and worked through my issues with the controls. I'm glad I did. It was a great game.

polq37 wrote:

The vehicles don't feel like they have any kind of real weight and mass.

I don't really agree. The helicopters seem weighty and many cars drive as if their trunk is full of cement.

I wasn't sure about the game at first but, after a few goes with the demo, I'm.... for want of a better word... hooked. The balance of combat seemed too punishing but now I've learned to make use of the wire, rather than running around on foot (It takes time for me to adapt to these things) I'm really enjoying the game. I'll pick it up once it's dropped a notch price wise.

They start to feel more natural after a time. The control scheme, at least on the 360, does seem to be from the 'let's be all different and map things to buttons they've never been mapped to before' school of design.

Really? I thought that the controls were a bit loose, but as for button mapping, it's pretty standard for gta-style sandbox games. The only thing it really seemed to do differently was the context-sensitive weapon swapping.

...which annoys me to no end when I accidentally drop the wrong gun because about 5 guys are shooting at me and more are pulling up in jeeps, but it's not a deal breaker.

They start to feel more natural after a time. The control scheme, at least on the 360, does seem to be from the 'let's be all different and map things to buttons they've never been mapped to before' school of design.

Really? I thought that the controls were a bit loose, but as for button mapping, it's pretty standard for gta-style sandbox games. The only thing it really seemed to do differently was the context-sensitive weapon swapping.

...which annoys me to no end when I accidentally drop the wrong gun because about 5 guys are shooting at me and more are pulling up in jeeps, but it's not a deal breaker.

You're right. It was the context sensitive, 'tap or hold Y' weapon selection that coloured my impression of the control set up. Thinking about it afterwards it occurred to me that the set up for the rest of the buttons was pretty logical.

I like the weight and mass on the vehicles. I always thought GTAIV went too "heavy" and sluggish with most of the cars - it took me forever to get the hang of handbraking with that game. They definitely penalize you for driving on the wrong terrain. As soon as your sedan hits the desert sand the thing starts to spin like a bumper car!

The main control problems I have are also the 'tap or hold Y' on weapon pickups, and trying to grapple onto a building while parachuting. You have to drop your parachute, then grapple (or else you just do the slingshot maneuver)... but as soon as I go into freefall I start spinning madly, lose control of my aim and can't grapple the building I want to attach to!

You have to drop your parachute, then grapple (or else you just do the slingshot maneuver)... but as soon as I go into freefall I start spinning madly, lose control of my aim and can't grapple the building I want to attach to!

Ok, yep, this is a problem and just plain stupid that you cannot grapple to a building while in a parachute. That is my only problem with the controls though. That and the bug that is affecting only .00001% of us (probably just me): in 3 x 16*10 screen resolutions (3840x800, 5040x1050) the QTE prompts do not show. The problem with being in this small minority is that I will likely never see a fix.

I like the weight and mass on the vehicles. I always thought GTAIV went too "heavy" and sluggish with most of the cars - it took me forever to get the hang of handbraking with that game. They definitely penalize you for driving on the wrong terrain. As soon as your sedan hits the desert sand the thing starts to spin like a bumper car!

I thought all the cars handled really badly until I realised they manoeuvred a lot better on the roads. Quite a clever way to keep you on the tarmac.

Every time I play the demo I feel a little more in control. The pursuit helicopters had been giving me a lot of trouble (i.e. shooting me down seconds after they arrive) but now I wait for them to appear and have no trouble taking them out. It's a great demo. Very generous time and area wise but almost certain to convince anyone who is interested in this sort of thing to pick up the game.

You have to drop your parachute, then grapple (or else you just do the slingshot maneuver)... but as soon as I go into freefall I start spinning madly, lose control of my aim and can't grapple the building I want to attach to!

Actually, you can grapple with a parachute. Just grapple to where you want to be, the slingshot maneuver will start, then hit jump/parachute to drop your parachute and zoom towards whatever you grappled. As long as you hit jump/parachute while your grapple is still connected it works fine.

You have to drop your parachute, then grapple (or else you just do the slingshot maneuver)... but as soon as I go into freefall I start spinning madly, lose control of my aim and can't grapple the building I want to attach to!

Actually, you can grapple with a parachute. Just grapple to where you want to be, the slingshot maneuver will start, then hit jump/parachute to drop your parachute and zoom towards whatever you grappled. As long as you hit jump/parachute while your grapple is still connected it works fine.

I agree that the vehicles are weird but I actually really like the controls and the way the game handles. Only thing I don't like is the annoying couching system, it's terrible.

I think this is my biggest gripe... is there really no cover system in this game, or am I thick?

I've played the demo a bit more, and the game is definitely growing on me. Part of my problem seems to be that I wasn't playing this game as a GTA game, with "wanted levels" and such, but as a "kill these five guys and clean out the town" sort of thing. It definitely gets ridiculously frustrating when those attack copters come after you.

I've played through the demo a couple of times, and I'm very meh on the whole thing. I played the heck out of Mercenaries 2 and enjoyed it so much that I went through and collected every hidden toolbox twice (with different characters).

This feels really samey to me. Yet another open world sandbox chaos-creation game set in a fictional South American country. Same objectives, same (I'm assuming) faction system, same "airdrop toys to yourself at any time" mechanic. The only difference seems to be that the grappling hook is good for more than grabbing helicopters. But since I never stole a civilian's car in Mercenaries 2 (I had a rule for myself that I would only steal from enemy factions.), the whole "stunt jump" system won't be all that useful to me.

Regardless of what the story is, I'll probably give this one a miss. I just feel like I've played it before.

Actually, you can grapple with a parachute. Just grapple to where you want to be, the slingshot maneuver will start, then hit jump/parachute to drop your parachute and zoom towards whatever you grappled. As long as you hit jump/parachute while your grapple is still connected it works fine.

Oh wow, can't believe I never noticed that before. Much better now!

I'm guessing the lack of a cover system was to force the player to adopt a much more run and gun style of combat, thus showing off the trademark grapple and parachute more. The game seems designed around movement - whether flying through the air or leaping from vehicle to vehicle.

Even the AI seems to support this style. Every time I try to dig into a hole and start sniping from a distance (my usual style of play, apparently), it won't be long before I'm flanked by squads of soldiers or getting bombarded from a helicopter above to flush me out.

So is there a way to lower your wanted level once the attack helicopters come out? It seems like all my destruction sprees culminate in endless waves of attack helicopters that I cannot escape to get my wanted level down.

So is there a way to lower your wanted level once the attack helicopters come out? It seems like all my destruction sprees culminate in endless waves of attack helicopters that I cannot escape to get my wanted level down.

I'm really interested to see how this game sells considering the demo.

The demo is fun but obviously displayed how sandboxy and limited and Mercenaries 2-y it is. It may have made a split between DoubtingThomas types (I'm with you) and people who still crave a fixed Mercenaries 2.

So is there a way to lower your wanted level once the attack helicopters come out? It seems like all my destruction sprees culminate in endless waves of attack helicopters that I cannot escape to get my wanted level down.

When my level went up I would take a chopper straight up, eventually they give up, or take a chopper to a different location.

I've put a few hours into the PS3 demo and have ordered the game. I got the 'limited edition' for £31.50 (or so) from Zavvi.co.uk with the code 'jc10'.

I've got the feeling that the limited edition content is already on the disc. I only bought it because the standard and limited are the same price.

I'm mainly buying the game because of the YouTube feature on PS3.

Yeah, the whole "limited edition" thing is incredibly asinine this time around. Everywhere but the US, you get all the bonuses for free just by pre-ordering anywhere. In the US, you get ONE item, depending on where you pre-order from. I have a feeling Gamestop is behind this one. They've been going pretty heavy on the "exclusive pre-order bonus" stuff lately.

Ok, I realize I'm weird, but after seeing that people seem to like it, when I checked for DRM, I saw it was just Steamworks, nothing else, and that instantly sealed the deal. Looking forward to screwing around with it later on.

One of my favourite things from the demo is the mounted gatling gun that you can detach and wander around with. I love the way it kicks up tons of powder and debris like it's tearing up anything in it's path.... which it pretty much is.

One of my favourite things from the demo is the mounted gatling gun that you can detach and wander around with. I love the way it kicks up tons of powder and debris like it's tearing up anything in it's path.... which it pretty much is.

One of my favourite things from the demo is the mounted gatling gun that you can detach and wander around with. I love the way it kicks up tons of powder and debris like it's tearing up anything in it's path.... which it pretty much is.

I'm really interested to see how this game sells considering the demo.

The demo is fun but obviously displayed how sandboxy and limited and Mercenaries 2-y it is. It may have made a split between DoubtingThomas types (I'm with you) and people who still crave a fixed Mercenaries 2.

I can't really say exactly why, but the demo for Mercenaries 2 left me completely uninterested in the game, but an hour with the Just Cause 2 demo made me stop playing the demo - because I was completely sold on the game and wanted to wait for the complete experience. Even though they seem very similar, I just found JC2 had a basic visceral fun factor that M2 somehow lacked.